Slicing apparatus with safety device to guard thumb of hand moving the carriage



June 24, 1958 I J. GILBERT SLICING APPARATUS WITH SAFETY DEVICE 'ro GUARD THUMB OF HAND MOVING THE CARRIAGE Original Filed April 25, 1957 ENTOR, Jim $2800;

SLICING APPARATUS WITH SAFETY DEVICE TO THUMB OF HAND MOVING THE CAR- Jack Gilbert, New Windsor, N ewburgh, N. Y., assignor to General Slicing Machine Co., Inc., Walden, N. Y., a corporation of New York Continuation of application Serial No. 655,067, April 25, 257.13 This application May 27, 1957, Serial No.

4 Claims. (Cl. 146-102) The present invention relates to food slicing apparatus having a food carriage which is moved by hand to and fro past the cutting edge of a blade which is .to one side of the carriage, and more particularly to. a safety device to guard the thumb of the hand which moves the carriage, from contact with the cutting edge of the blade.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved safety device for the purpose mentioned, which keeps the said thumb busy at a region on the carriage which is always away from the cutting, edge of the blade, thereby preventing the said digit from being injured by the blade.

Another object thereof is to provide a novel and improved safety device of the character set forth, which halts the carriage at a predetermined position if the thumb 1 2 a a. 2---2 in Fig. 1. Here the thumb bar is in normal rest position untouched by the operator. I

Fig. 3 is-a view like Fig. 2, except that here the thumb bar has been shifted so that the movable element conof the hand moving the carriage is not attending to its 1 imposed function, thereby necessitating that the carriage be pulled back to starting position before it can be advanced again towards the cutting edge of the blade. This compels the operator to keep his said thumb employed as required and thus kept safe from the cutting edge of the blade.

Still another object of this invention isto provide; a novel and improved safety device ofthe .type set; forth, which is applicable to machines of present design, and which is reasonable in cost and eflicient in carrying out the purposes for which it is designed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as this disclosure proceeds.

For the practice of this invention, one form it may assume, comprises a fixed stop element on the frame of the machine and a movable element on the carriage, normally in position to engage the said stop element upon movement of the carriage towards the cutting edge of the blade, a distance where the thumb of the hand moving the carriage, is still away from such cutting edge regardless of the position of such thumb. Also, there is a bar movably mounted on the carriage for shifting said movable element into such a position that it will clear the stop element during all movement of the carriage. Said bar is so positioned that in the normal hold of the hand on the carriage, only the thumb of such hand can manipulate such bar. Hence, said bar is herein called the thumb bar. Since the hand on the carriage may be at various distances from the plane of the cutting blade, when such hand also shifts a spurred member across the carriage to move the food mass towards the plane of the blade, it is practical to have said thumb bar extend in a direction across the line of travel of the carriage and be of an extent to accommodate the thumb at any distance from the blades plane.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the food slicing machine embodying the teachings of this invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken at lines needs no further description.

the guard 22, thethumb of the hand moving the carriage The main object of trolled thereby will clear the stop element. This shows the condition while the machine is. being operated properly.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the food carriageand its appurtenances. a

In the drawing, the numeral 15 designates generally one form of slicing machine'this invention is adaptablefor. In such machine, a food carriage 16 is slidably mounted on horizontal tracks 17 which are suspended on thebase or frame 18. In use, the machine is positioned so that the operator first push the carriage away from himself, from a starting position where to one side of the carriage there is the gage plate 19, then followed by the rotary disc cutter 20. The operator continues such movethe cutting edge of the disc blade 20. The slice has been cut and the operator now pulls the carriage back to starting position and is ready to repeat the'cycle for each slice to be cut. The carriage usually has afinger guard 22. To move the carriage, theoperator grasps the top edge of the upright wall 21, with the thumb of his hand pointing towards the finger guard 22... When the food mass is within the confines of the carriage, it is usually held and fed to the plane of the blade by means of a spur clamp 23 which is held' in the grasping hand and is slidable along the top edge of said carriage wall 21. This slicing machine as thus far described is Well known in the-art and But despite the presence of 16, does at times carelessly wander. thepresent invention as stated, is to keep this thumb occupied so that it remains safe from the cutting blade.

A preferred embodiment of such safety device will now. i

be set forth. a

Along the carriage wall 21 there is a thumb bar 23, here shown pivoted along its top edge by end .pintles, 24, 25 through suitable aligned holes in the flange 26 and the guard plate 22 on the food carriage 16. An element 27 is carried along with the carriage, to engage a stop element 28 interposed in its path. This stop element 28 is fixed to the frame 18 at such a point that when it intercepts the element 27, the carriage will be stopped at such position that its wall 21 is yet a sufiicient distance from the cutting edge of the blade 20, whereby regard-.- less of where the operators thumb may be (meaning the thumb on the hand moving the carriage), such thumb is still away from the cutting edge of the blade.

It is necessary that in normal condition, or when the thumb bar is unmoved as shown in Fig. 2, said element 27 shall be in position to be intercepted by the stop element 28, and that upon movement of the thumb bar as shown in Fig. 3, said element 27 shall be shifted to be away from the stop element during the full travel of the carriage. It istherefore required to have some means which will properly move the element 27 upon movement of the thumb bar. In the embodiment shown, all that is required to accomplish this, is to connect the thumb bar and said element 27 by a member 29. It is evident that the action of the blade spring 30, or the action of gravity if the element 27 is heavy enough and said spring is omitted, will shift the thumb bar 23 upon release of hold thereon, so that the element 27 is in position to be intercepted by the stop element 28 upon movement of the carriage towards the cutting blade.

When the spring 30 is included, the element 27 in the embodiment shown, may be relatively thin, since the spring chosen would be of sufficient strength to do its Patented June 24, 1958;

intended work of restoring the" thumb bar 23 and the element 27 to normal position upon release of manual hold of said thumb bar. As mentioned, the action of gravity may be relied on to do. this, instead of the spring means. -In such instance the'elementf 27 would need be weighted or itself be thick enough to havesufiicient weight. The excessmass so required to be carried on or tube part ofisai'd element 27, shallbe deemed herein as meansfor restoring the mentioned normal position of the thumb bar and the element 27.

Since only the thumb is available to operate the thumb bar when the hand grasps the carriage wall 21 to slide the carriage, and since, as the hand approaches the plane ot'the' bl'ade, such thumb must point downward in order to contact said thumb-bar, it is evident that such finger mustbe away'from the cutting edge ofthe' blade at all positions of. the-carriage 16L A r r Another importanbtea'ching of this invention is that upon engagement of the elements 27' and- 28 whereupon the carriage I6 is halted before. even a straying thumb could reach the cutting edge of the blade, it is mandatory to move the carriage back towards starting position before it can againibe moved towards the cutting edge. Hencethe said thumb is 'li'eptoccupied-to press on the thumb=bar 2'3; so that the carriage could be moved withoutinterruption. a

To accomplish this" feature,1the element 27 isof el'on gated ferm on otherwise suitably shaped that part of it passes beyond the svop el'er'nejntfi-28 before it is contacted by= such' stop el'emeiitat a point on said" element 27 which is nearer star-ting positionof the carriage.

The position of the thumb bar 23 'should be so-low that only the thumb positioned downward-could operate" itwhen the handg'raspsthe carriage." 7 This invention is applicableetoa hand'driven slicing machine as shown herein which is: of the type shownfincarriage. wall 21 to" slide such Patent No.-2, '/'-3 5 ,4 i dated February 21; 1956', and to a slicing machine havingapower-driven bladeof the typeshown-im-Design Patent No; 177,536, dated April" 24,

1956, both assigned tdGeneraF SlicingMachine Co, Inc.,--

This application is a continuation of the application filed onAphillSi 1957 under SerialNo. 655 ,'067;:which application has been abandoned. I r

This invention is capable of numerous forms and vari-' ous applicationswithoutdeparting from theessential'fea ture's hereine disclosed; It is therefore intended and desired' that the embodiment shown herein be deemed illus trative and not restrictive and that the patent shall cover all patentabl'enovelty setforth herein; reference being had to the following claims rather than to the specific description herein to indicate the/scope of thisinvention.

I claim:

1 In a food slicing. apparatus, a frame, a cutting member mounted thereon, presenting a cutting edge, a food carriage adapted to have a food mass rest thereon, movably mounted on the frame to one side of said cutting edge; said carriage being manually movable to and fro past the cutting edge from a first to a second predetermined position on the frame; said carriage having a part" acrossit above the food-resting surface of such carriage, adapted to be grasped in one hand for moving the carriage; saidpart offering the hand free movement along it in a directionacross the carriage towards and away. from said cutting edge, a thumb bar movably mounted on the' carriage and extending across it below and along. said part; said' bar being in such position that it can be contacted by the thumb of the hand of the operator when such thumb is directed substantially down ward when said part of the carriage is grasped, a stop element on the frameat a predetermined point between said first and second positions of the carriage, a second element carried by the carriage, normally in a position to be intercepted by the stop element upon movement of the carriage fromsaid first position, whereupon the carriage ishalted from further movement away from said first position; means on the carriage associated with said second element and" the thumb bar, for moving said second element to a position where it remains clear of the stop element at all positions of the carriage, upon movement'of the'thumb bar when the carriage is at its-said firstpo'sit'io'n and such thumb bar is held in its said moved position during movement of the carriage and means on the carriage for returning the second element to it's normal rest position upon release of the thumb bar a and for returningthe thumb bar to its initial position.

1 movedtowards-its said second position.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the second element is an elongated member which has a swinging movement'in relation'tothe carriage.

4. The apparatus asdefined in claim 2, wherein the thumb 'baris-iswingably mounted on the carriage and the mentioned, second element is carried along with said thumb-bar;

- r No references cited. 

